Ambush!

I knew my camouflage was good when a mother bunny hopped into the line of my rifle sight. She stood there, her nose twitching, her radar ears on maximum alert. Then - as if on some secret signal- four baby bunnies hopped out of the bush and nuzzled in beside her. Then they were gone. A lucky escape? No, I wasn't there to shoot rabbits, just humans - but my rifle was only loaded with blank rounds - 7.62mm rimless if you really want to know.

Twelve hours earlier an enthusiastic second lieutenant had given us the exercise briefing: The military might of the Russian army was advancing west and would be at the channel ports within a week. We had been called up to slow their advance until the politicians could negotiate a cease fire. My life expectancy was 48hrs I was soberly informed.

And so I found myself lying on a forest floor somewhere in Germany. Waiting to ambush any hapless Russian conscripts who stumbled by. But they were safely tucked up in their barracks hundreds of miles away, probably swilling vodka and singing rousing drinking songs. No matter, for the sake of the exercise our Nato comrades in the German army were pretending to be the Russian army, while we were pretending to be the British army.

I'd been lying on the forest floor since nightfall. Now a new day was dawning. Gone were the scary night forms that seemed to take on inhuman shapes, now they revealed themselves to be branches and trees in the light of dawn. I looked down at the forest floor. An amazing sight! Myriads of creatures going about their business: Columns of ants snaking past, beetles scurrying around seemingly lost for direction. Long legged spiders loping past. Winged insects hovering as if undecided where to land. Moths shaking off the morning dew. Birds swishing the leaves of the forest floor with their beaks, searching for juicy bugs. Nature had me surrounded and it was a marvellous sight. Now I felt like a shameful interloper in this environment. The only creature there with bad intentions was me.

The sound of a distant whistle was the signal that the exercise was over. I stood up and headed back to our encampment. No Russians had been killed, no Germans pretending to be Russians had been killed - and the bunnies had gone safely on their way.